Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

House GOP Approves Bill To Change Health Law Work Week Definition

The measure, which gained easy passage in the House but will face greater challenges in the Senate, revises the health law's definition of full-time work to 40 hours rather than 30 hours. The law requires larger employers to provide insurance coverage for full-time workers.

Politico:
House Starts Its Obamacare Repeal March
The House easily passed legislation Thursday afternoon changing the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time workweek to 40 hours, the first step in the new Republican Congress’ plan to dismantle as much of Obamacare as it can. The House has cleared more than 50 assorted measures to repeal or roll back Obamacare, but this is the first time the House can propel legislation to a GOP-controlled Senate, potentially forcing President Barack Obama to either accept changes to his signature domestic achievement or use his veto power. (Pradhan, 1/8)

The Associated Press:
GOP Congress Moves Veto-Bait Bills On Health Care, Pipeline
In command and ready for a fight, defiant Republicans ignored two White House veto threats and advanced bills in Congress Thursday curbing President Barack Obama’s cherished health care overhaul and forcing construction on a proposed oil pipeline. The top House Democrat predicted her party would uphold both vetoes. ... [T]he House approved legislation narrowing the definition of full-time workers who must be offered employer-provided health care from those working 30 hours weekly to a 40-hour minimum. The vote was a mostly party-line 252-172 — short of the 290 needed, assuming all members voted, for the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. On both bills, GOP leaders would face uphill fights mustering the two-thirds House and Senate majorities needed to override vetoes. (1/8)

Los Angeles Times:
House GOP Chips Away At Obamacare, Voting To Redefine Full-Time Work
Congressional Republicans renewed their assault Thursday on the Affordable Care Act, as the House passed legislation to redefine the law's definition of full-time work, a key detail that would affect how employers must provide health benefits to workers. But Republican leaders are still grappling with how to use their new congressional majorities to fulfill the party's long-standing pledge to roll back what they call Obamacare. (Levey, 1/8)

The New York Times:
House Fires Shot At Health Care Law, Seeking To Alter Critical Coverage Rule
Under the health law’s mandate for employers, businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to offer health insurance to any employee who works at least 30 hours, or pay a penalty. That mandate began phasing in this month. By adjusting that threshold to 40 hours, Republicans — strongly backed by a number of business groups — said that they would re-establish the traditional 40-hour workweek and prevent businesses cutting costs from radically trimming worker hours to avoid mandatory insurance coverage. They contend that the most vulnerable workers are low-skilled and underpaid, working 30 to 35 hours a week, and now facing cuts to 29 hours so their employers do not have to insure them. (Weisman, 1/9)

The Wall Street Journal:
House Votes To Change Health Law’s Definition Of Full-Time Worker
The vote reflects the long political shadow cast by the 2010 health law, President Barack Obama’s signature achievement. Republicans have never liked the law and were able to tap into public frustration with a bumpy implementation over the past year and a half to win decisive victories in the 2014 midterm elections. With the largest Republican majority in the House since the 1920s and newly in control of the Senate, Republicans are intent on following through on their pledges to dismantle the law. (Hughes, 1/8)

Bloomberg:
Health Care Law's Employer Mandate Eased In Bill Passed By House
Thursday's House vote, with 12 Democrats supporting the bill, showed that it lacks the two-thirds backing needed to override a presidential veto. "We will sustain the president's veto on that," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said earlier in the day. "The president's threat to veto this common-sense legislation, rather than work toward bipartisan solutions to help middle-class families, is a sad commentary on where his priorities lie," said House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in a statement after the vote. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said it was too soon to discuss the bill's prospects without a veto-proof majority. (House, 1/8)

USA Today:
House Backs Bill Redefining Full-Time Workweek Under ACA
The Affordable Care Act requires large employers to offer health insurance to those who work at least 30 hours a week. The bill would change that threshold to 40 hours a week. "Let's restore the 40-hour workweek … that has long been understood to be the gold standard of the workweek in this country," Young said. ... Opponents said the bill would increase the number of uninsured, increase the deficit and give employers a greater incentive than they have now to cut workers hours to avoid having to pay for their health insurance. That's because there are about twice as many uninsured Americans who work around 40 hours a week than who work close to 30 hours a week. (Groppe, 1/8)

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